Robert Wickens delivered one of the most emotionally charged moments of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season on Friday, taking GTD pole position for Saturday's Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach race in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R that he steers using a bespoke hand-control system.
The Canadian, whose IndyCar career was ended by a life-altering 2018 crash at Pocono that left him with a spinal cord injury, is now deep into a top-flight sportscar comeback with DXDT Racing — and his Long Beach qualifying lap was fast enough to beat an extremely competitive GTD field. For a driver who spent the better part of a decade fighting to race again, pole at one of IMSA's most prestigious street events carries an obvious symbolism.
Wickens described the result in understated terms, but his words carried a weight that did not need to be exaggerated.
"A bit of a redemption from last year," Wickens said.
He pointed immediately to the engineering effort behind his 36 Corvette programme and the shared running with Corvette Racing's full-factory operation.
"DXDT Racing and Corvette Racing are doing an amazing job," Wickens said.
"The car is so nice to drive. Going into this weekend, if you told me I'd be on the front row, I would have taken it."
The overall pole winner in the GTP class was Nick Yelloly, whose Acura Meyer Shank entry will lead the field away from the front of the grid in Acura's home race as title sponsor. The British driver was equally candid about what the pole meant for a squad that has not enjoyed the start to the 2026 season it expected.
"We haven't had the poles and the results that we needed so far this year, so to start on pole position here at our home Grand Prix is the most important thing and I'm just super proud," Yelloly said.
"I was able to push, and inch closer to the wall each lap. The Michelin tires held up well… and I was just able to have fun."
For context, the No. 60 Acura shares equipment and Michelin tyre spec with Andretti's IndyCar program, and Meyer Shank has spent the opening rounds of the GTP era trying to recover the pace that carried them to multiple Daytona 24 wins. Yelloly's lap, set in a critical window of the session as track temperature dropped, was the final piece of an improving weekend.
But it is Wickens' GTD pole that has captured the paddock imagination. His DXDT entry – which runs under Corvette Racing's factory support programme – represents one of the most sophisticated technical efforts ever made to allow a paraplegic driver to compete at the top of international sportscar racing. Wickens uses a custom hand-control ring behind the steering wheel to manage throttle and brake inputs, with the rest of the car's operation performed by his crew during pit stops.
That the system is now producing pole positions against fully able-bodied opposition in one of the most aggressive GTD grids of the season is itself a statement. DXDT and Corvette Racing have spent years refining the package, and 2026 has so far given Wickens the most competitive car of his sportscar return.
The Long Beach street circuit, with its proximity to barriers and its demand for precise throttle modulation, is one of the hardest tests Wickens could have faced. Acura wakes up Saturday morning with the home GTP pole; Wickens wakes up with something arguably more precious – a reminder that a driver whose career was effectively written off in 2018 is now leading a class field at one of American motorsport's flagship events.
Race start is scheduled for 5:05pm ET Saturday, with Wickens heading a GTD field that will include Lexus, Aston Martin, Ferrari and BMW machinery. On paper the pace is closely matched; emotionally, only one storyline has been written.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/wickens-dxdt-corvette-long-beach-gtd-pole-2026). Visit for full coverage.*